On this day in history, December 29, 1778, Savannah, Georgia is captured by the British Army in the First Battle of Savannah, the first strike of the new British southern campaign aimed at taking back control of the rebellious southern colonies. With the entry of the French on the side of the Americans after the victory at Saratoga, British commanders were forced to reassess their entire war strategy, involving a withdrawal from captured Philadelphia and a new effort designed to take back Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia.
The Southern Strategy relied on the British belief that Loyalist sentiment and numbers were very strong in the south and could be exploited to more easily put down the rebels there. Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell left New York City with a force of 3100 men on November 26 and arrived off Tybee Island, near the mouth of the Savannah River on December 23.
